On turning 60

Peter Richard (Howlett) was born 9 October 1945. When he became Robert Vincent O'Neil (III), his birth date became 2 November 1945. Now I am 60.

My son Sean called one spring night in 2005 and announced he was honoring me with an all-expense-paid trip to Minneapolis so the two of us could watch Paul McCartney. I was breathless.

My flight to Minneapolis was delayed over an hour, as the airline tried to decide which plane they should use, and to which gate the flight should be assigned. It was unmoving to see even the pilot wander about waiting for a final decision. Nevertheless, we did take off, and we did land. My Dramamine worked, and although I was tied, it was wonderful to see Sean and his daughter Emma at the baggage claim.

It was wonderful to meet the rest of his family at their beautiful home Sean continually remodels with finesse. His wife Corinne, and their son Liam made me welcome from the start.

After arriving on a Saturday, we spent eight hours on Sunday driving down to Columbia, Missouri to meet four more children and my other two grandchildren. Only my son Robert, and his wife Kim were not there, as they live in New Mexico. There was much talk, and even a scouting trip, as we contemplated my moving to Columbia. My ex, Marjie, was in the process of moving, so we toured her new digs and pronounced it was good.

Son Tim, his wife Stephanie, and their children Aidan and Quinlan, opened their arms and home to all. Youngest son Tyrone was there with his girlfriend Melissa. It was a holiday atmosphere with brats instead of turkey. Brats - big ol' wieners. It does not get any better than to gather with family!

We bundled off to VIRTUAL ARENA, a video gaming store run by my son David, daughter Brenda, and her beau Carlos. It was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful! Really BIG screens for a bunch of video games. I agreed to help them advertise - heck, with the Internet, I don't even need to BE in Columbia!

Our trip back to Minneapolis on Tuesday almost ended in disaster. Some guy in a vehicle next to us on the freeway stuck his arm out and pointed down. I could not figure out what that meant, and didn't say anything to Sean. I should have. "That is the international sign for a flat tire," he pointed out after we were forced to pull over and he plugged the flat. I felt terrible, because the side of the flat tire was almost shredded.

That is the worst part of turning 60. My mind just isn't as sharp as it used to be. Not Alzheimer's - yet - but I feel so stupid from time to time. Too many obvious mistakes. In my mind, I have always been immature, with just enough education to make me dangerous. I know a little bit about a lot of things, but not much about anything. I've studied several languages, and can speak none of them. I have taken several music lessons, and can play no instrument. As I age, more and more slips away. When I was 46, I had a large kidney stone that made me quite ill. That was the first time I realized I was mortal. Now that my pacemaker is keeping my heart going 80 percent of the time, well, I feel very vulnerable. I have always thought of death and dying, and now it takes on a way different shade - I REALLY AM going to die. My body doesn't climb the hills as resiliently as it did even two years ago. I am getting old.

Back in Minneapolis, it was time to celebrate!

There was such a bustle outside the auditorium where Paul was to play. Some dude had a sign proclaiming he needed two tickets. I figured I was supposed to feel sorry for him, but I had a big smile inside. I had brought SOME cash, but the t-shirts were $40, so we zipped past the conc\essions. I drank it all in like a 16 year-old. My concert history is a very short one, and I had never seen anything like THIS before. (My mother took me to see Bachman-Turner-Overdrive. With dates I saw Peter, Paul and Mary - "1964 as the Beatles" - and a concert with The Turtles and the Monkees.)

As expected, it took at least a half hour to allow for late-comers and beer-buyers. The screen was full of images reminiscent of Yellow Submarine, which finally gave way to what I am sure are Paul's paintings. Helped by an ever louder symphonic cacophony, we were dully primed for HIS appearance.

It was magical.

Having seen/heard the Red Square concert on TV, I was concerned his voice was "over the hill." No such thing. I'm not a musician, but in my ears, he was pitch perfect thorughout the entire concert. That alone blew me away.

I had no trouble letting myself get lost in the atmosphere of seeing the single most important performance of my life. It didn't matter if the guy next to me didn't appreciate my antics - I was INVOLVED. Immersed.

I played air drums. I pounded the air with my fist. I jumped up and down. I did everything but cry like a teenage girl. It was wonderful!

"Maybe I'm Amazed" - After the song, Paul caught site of the jacket I was waving madly in the air, and waved back - to ME. PAUL MCARTNEY WAVED TO ME!!!!!!!!!!! I can now die in peace.

"Live and Let Die" - Ohmygosh, the song I had been waiting for. The song I flew a zillion miles to hear in person. The song with not only red flames, but with GREEN flames! Flames so intense, we could feel them in the twenty-second row!

Sean sat behind me, which was great, and during one song HE belted out the lyrics! It was a thrasher song I hadn't heard before, but no matter, I bounced off Sean and he bounced off me until my glasses bounced off the floor! How great does it get!

Finally, and with Sean's help, I recognized the most smash-mouth version of "Helter Skelter" ever played. Wow!

There were at least three encores, and we would have all stayed all night if the poor guy hadn't drained himself of all his energy. I know I was weak way before the end, and I'm a couple of years younger than Paul!

Outside, the limos came in all shapes and sizes, from a monster Hummer, to a 1932 stretched Plymouth the chauffeur nervously guarded. Then as we were bouncing along toward the parking lot - soaking in as much as we could from the ambience - PAUL'S MOTORCADE SCREAMED RIGHT PAST US! Three huge buses with motorcycles in front and back to cut a swath for the greatest musician of them all.

When the newspaper reviewer said it was not an electric performance, he must have been to a different concert than I went to! He did not single out the fan-far-out-tastic drummer, or the eerie accordion solo either, so maybe he ate too many brats and too many $8.50 beers, 'cause he missed a lot, man!

A story is told about a new bride who slaps her husband at the altar. "Why did you do that?" the startled man asks. "Because this is the most important day of my life, and I don't want you to ever forget it," she smiles. Exactly - I have no intention of ever going to another concert. THIS was my memory, and I never want to forget it. :-)

THANK YOU, Paul McCartney!

THANK YOU, Sean O'Neil!

THANK YOU, family!

Sir Paul takes a lap through great songs

Paul McCartney showcased his deep and rich catalog of songs in the 2-hour and 40-minute show. It made for a fun, if a bit uneven, concert.

Jon Bream, Star Tribune
Last update: October 27, 2005 at 10:44 AM

In 1965, Bob Dylan went electric with "Like a Rolling Stone." The Rolling Stones sang about getting no satisfaction. And the Beatles made their only Minnesota appearance at Met Stadium in Bloomington.

Forty years later, Dylan, the Stones and Paul McCartney, the most important surviving Beatle, all performed in the Twin Cities -- the first year that has ever happened.

"All three of them in the same year, it's pretty remarkable," Bob Pratt, 51, a Minneapolis grade-school teacher who attended all three shows, said before McCartney's show Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.

"In 1965 when I saw the Beatles at Met Stadium and the baseball All-Star Game and the World Series, I asked my dad if we could see them again next summer," Pratt recalled. "My dad looked at me: 'I gotta tell you pal that that doesn't happen every summer. That was a special time.' "

So was 2005, said Pratt, who took his 16-year-old son, John, to see "the three pop music icons of the century."

When McCartney took the stage Wednesday, it "sent a shiver down my spine," Pratt said. "I felt like I was in the presence of immortality."

Said John Pratt: "It's almost impossible for me to fathom that one man wrote all of these classic songs."

McCartney performed 37 songs over 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was a marathon that felt like a victory lap. While it was a victorious showcase for the singer-songwriter's deep and rich catalog of songs, it was far from a great concert.

No one expects McCartney, 63, to have the boundless energy of Mick Jagger or the snarly attitude and musical restlessness of Dylan. To be sure, Paul was his usual playful, eternally cute self, hamming it with a little dance here, a quip there and more post-song big bows than Neil Diamond takes.

But this oddly paced nostalgia-fest lacked immediacy and importance. It wasn't nearly as fulfilling or fun as McCartney's similar 2002 concert. Back then, his young band sparked him and the inventive visuals energized the evening and added wow!

By contrast, the band -- the same four guys -- didn't provide much of a spark this time, especially in the first half. However, what did have a spark was McCartney's solo stuff on piano and acoustic guitar.

He dusted off the first song he ever recorded with the pre-Beatles Quarrymen in 1958, "In Spite of All the Danger," a hillbilly with a hiccup number that suggested both Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. Then he alternated Beatle classics with tunes from his commendable new CD, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard." The oldie "I Will" was as sweet and unassuming as the ensuing new "Jenny Wren," which took on a gypsy-like feel thanks to Paul Wickens' accordion.

It was obvious that McCartney was in a groove for "For No One" and "Fixing a Hole." Even the twee new "English Tea" seemed to fit, especially after the singer explained the arcane word "peradventure" (meaning perhaps) that he used and encouraged everyone to try using it tomorrow.

Oddly, the number that seemed to set up this successful solo sentimentality was the night's unexpected cover, "Til There Was You" from "The Music Man." The Beatles actually recorded it in 1963 and used to play it in cabarets back then. In St. Paul, Sir Paul pulled off this standard (the "smoochy stuff," he called it) with his inimitable mix of sincerity and hamminess. It was a left-field highlight.

After McCartney's solo excursion, he and his band seemed to get in the groove; of course, it helped that the final 75 minutes were pretty much nonstop Beatles classics and other McCartney hits. Wings' "Band on the Run" energized all five musicians and all 18,117 concertgoers. The band rocked out on a raucous "Back in the USSR," a foot-stomping "Get Back" and a suitably chaotic "Helter Skelter." Sandwiched in there was a solo acoustic guitar rendition of "Yesterday" that was undermined by synthesized strings by Wickens.

(Synthesized horn and string parts also detracted from various other hits including the string-smothered "Long and Winding Road" and "Got To Get You Into My Life.")

In the end, when he closed with a medley of "Sgt. Pepper" and "The End," it was clear that McCartney, like an experienced marathoner, had saved his strongest effort for the final stretch. Then he deserved to take a big bow.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719

Paul McCartney's set list in St. Paul on Wednesday:

"Magical Mystery Tour" ('67)
"Flaming Pie" ('97)
"Jet" ('73)
"I'll Get You" ('63)
"Drive My Car" ('65)
"Till There Was You" (a standard, recorded '63)
"Let Me Roll It" ('73)
"Got To Get You Into My Life" ('66)
"Fine Line" ('05)
"Maybe I'm Amazed" ('70)
"The Long and Winding Road" ('70)
"In Spite of all the Danger" (the Quarrymen, '58)
"I Will" ('68)
"Jenny Wren" ('05)
"For No One" ('66)
"Fixing A Hole" ('67)
"English Tea" ('05)
"I'll Follow The Sun" ('64)
"Follow Me" ('05)
"Blackbird" ('68)
"Eleanor Rigby" ('66)
"Too Many People" ('71)
"She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" ('69)
"Good Day Sunshine" ('66)
"Band On The Run" ('73)
"Penny Lane" ('67)
"I've Got A Feeling" ('70)
"Back In The USSR" ('68)
"Hey Jude" ('68)
"Live and Let Die" ('73)
"Yesterday" ('65)
"Get Back" ('70)
"Helter Skelter" ('68)
"Please Please Me" ('63)
"Let It Be" ('70)
"Sgt Pepper/The End" ('69)